This year's meeting of the UN's Fourth Committee on Decolonization, which took place last week, was livened up considerably by the arrival of Oscar-winning actor Javier Bardem, who had come to petition on the issue of Western Sahara. Stefan Simanowitz reports exclusively from New York.

In a new column, 'North African Dispatches', Imad Mesdoua casts a light on the case of Western Sahara, Africa's last, forgotten colony. He traces the history of the region from Spanish colonialism to Moroccan occupation, and charts the tremendous obstacles in the path to freedom that the Saharawi people have faced over the past decades. Unless a just peace is found soon, Mesdoua argues, the repercussions are bound to be disastrous for the region.